HIGH POWER SHORT PULSE BATTERY/CAPACITOR

BIPOLAR BATTERIES CAN, IN PRINCIPLE, YIELD ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE HIGHER SPECIFIC POWER THAN CONVENTIONAL, PARALLEL PLATE BATTERIES. SUCH BATTERIES BEGIN TO HAVE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS SIMILAR TO CAPACITORS AND COULD POSSIBLY BE USED TO REPLACE CAPACITOR FOR SOME APPLICATIONS. BATTERY PERFORMANCE OF BETWEEN 5 AND 2 A/CM2 AT 1.0 V CELL POTENTIAL FOR A TIME PERIOD OF 500 MICROSECONDS WITH ELECTRODES 250 MICROSECONDS THICK HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED IN PRACTICAL CONFIGURATIONS. IN THIS STUDY, THREE CELL BATTERY STACKS WHICH YIELD 1 V PER CELL AD 5 A/CM2 ARE BEING BUILT AND DEMONSTRATED. THIS DEMONSTRATION IMPLIES A CORE SPECIFIC POWER OF 100 KW/KG, AND ASSUMES A CELL THICKNESS OF 250 MM AND AN AVERAGE DENSITY OF 2 G/CM3. MORE IDEALIZED EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL CELL RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A SHORT TERM GOAL OF 10 A/CM2 AT 1.0 V CELL POTENTIAL FOR 1 MS WITH CELLS 125 MICROSECONDS THICK COULD BE POSSIBLE, IMPLYING A SPECIFIC POWER OF 400 KW/KG. RAILGUNS AND LASERS ARE BEING CONSIDERED AS WEAPONS AS PART OF THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE PROGRAM. IN ORDER TO DRIVE SUCH DEVICES, HUGH PULSES OF POWER IN THE GIGWATT RANGE ARE NEEDED FOR TIME PERIODS OF MILLISCONDS. THE BATTERIES BEING DEVELOPED IN THIS PROGRAM WILL, WHEN SUCCESSFUL, BE ABLE TO DELIVER SUCH POWER PULSES WITH LESS WEIGHT AND COST THAN ALTERNATE METHODS.